NAB’S COUNTRY BANK BRANCH CULL: OBERON AND LITHGOW AMONG 11 TOWNS LOSING NAB BRANCHES BY JULY

This week, National Australia Bank (NAB) customers in Oberon and Lithgow will be forced to make a roundtrip of more than one hundred kilometres for face-to-face banking, with NAB abandoning its two local branches.

Today is the last day NAB customers in Oberon will be able to conduct in-person banking in town, while NAB Lithgow will be closing tomorrow.

The Central West branches are among 11 regional branches being axed by NAB before the end of the financial year, including Cessnock, Moruya, Mullumbimby, Yass, Pittsworth, Proserpine, Sarina, Jamestown and Bright.

Independent Federal Member for Calare, Andrew Gee, said the regional bank closures come at a time of sky-high profits.

“In November 2023, NAB posted a profit of $7.731 billion,” said Mr Gee.

“Former NAB CEO Ross McEwan said at the time, ‘NAB is focused on delivering better outcomes for our customers and colleagues… and this is serving our customers and our bank well.’

“I think he mistook the word ‘customers’ for ‘shareholders’, because just two months later, NAB announced it would be axing its Oberon and Lithgow shopfronts – two of 11 regional NAB branches to close by July.

“That eyewatering $7.7 billion profit was made possible by shutting branches in country areas that have supported the bank through the generations and made the bank what it is today.

“The big banks say that they’re closing branches because fewer people are using them, but we all know the truth; they believe that they can make even greater profits by shutting them down.

“They downgrade services at branches and then walk away from the very communities who built them, disgracefully betraying the trust of loyal and longstanding country customers. Devastatingly for people in the regions, it just keeps on going.

“To access face-to-face banking, NAB customers in Oberon will now be forced to complete a 90km to 100km round trip to Bathurst, while NAB customers in Lithgow must make an

approximately 80km to 90km roundtrip to the Katoomba branch, or head to Bathurst which is a roundtrip of about 125km.

“These bank closures are particularly hard on seniors, community groups and businesses who rely on in-person banking services.

“In February, I met with NAB representatives at Parliament House in Canberra and asked them to reverse their decision to axe their Lithgow and Oberon branches. They flat out refused.

“The only thing the big banks fear is government regulation and that’s why the Australian Government needs to get on with legislating minimum service requirements for banks in country areas.

“This is another sorry chapter in the shameful story of the big banks’ abandonment and betrayal of country Australia and their customers,” said Mr Gee.